Here is a small collection of typical or notable pistols spanning from the sixteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century.
Pistols, 1500-1856
Barrel for number 4.
Wheel-lock pistol of the sixteenth century. This was the sort of pistol used by the German cavalry, and also by the Ritter, or knights.
Wheel-lock pistol with double barrel, beginning of the seventeenth century.
Wheel-lock pistol, firing seven shots.
Double wheel-lock, end of the sixteenth century. Arsenal of Zurich.
Wheel-lock and mortar pistol, called in German Katzenkopf, of the seventeenth century.
Wheel-lock and mortar pistol of the seventeenth century. It is entirely of iron.
Flint-lock pistol, end of the seventeenth century.
Pistol with flint-lock, of the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Colt’s revolver, invented by Samuel Colt, of the United States, in 1835.
Mat revolver, invented a short time back by M. Le Mat.
The illustrations and descriptions have been taken from An Illustrated History of Arms and Armour: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, by Auguste Demmin, and translated by Charles Christopher Black. Published in 1894 by George Bell.
Here is a pretty cool step-by-step guide to a Dragonbone dagger replica made by Folkenstal. Folkenstal uses some interesting techniques of laying up different thicknesses of plastic to create a rough block, and then sanding and cutting it to the final shape. Great photographs.
Furoshiki is the Japanese art of wrapping objects with cloth. The Japanese Minister of Ecology is encouraging the country to use furoshiki to carry the products they purchase, rather than paper or plastic bags. They’ve even made a handy chart showing how to wrap various-shaped objects. I can imagine this coming in handy for all sorts of prop purposes.
Finally, Tested brings us this sixteen-minute tour through Harrison Krix’s garage, better know as the Volpin Props prop shop. We get to see his small but well-equipped shop, check out some of his favorite tools, and get a sample of some of the many cool props he has built over the years.
This past summer, our production of The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein at the Santa Fe Opera had a lot of tricks. Like… a lot of them. One trick I worked on was a set of magically-appearing flags. The set had seven flag poles along one wall, and during one big moment of pomp and circumstance, the design team wanted flags to suddenly appear on them. The idea is kind of like those “bang” flags that pop out of guns in the cartoons.
Flag tubes
The basic mechanism behind the trick is that each flagpole has a second pole which sleeves inside. The two poles have slightly less than half of their surface notched out, as you can see in the photo above. The outer pole is fixed in place on the set, while the inner pole can spin around inside. So you can spin the inner pole to a position where the whole flag pole looks like a solid rod, and the flag is trapped inside. Then when you spin the inner pole around so the notches line up, the flag is free to drop down.
You can watch it all in action in the video below. The video also shows how I rigged the tubes so they could be activated by pulling a string off-stage, since there was no room on set to activate them directly.
This week (October 6-October 12, 2013) is Fire Prevention Week. It is a good time to remind ourselves to check that we are following all the proper fire prevention procedures, whether we work in theatre, an independent shop, or at home.
Using a Fire Extinguisher
Fires happen. We should not pretend that they are a thing of the past, or that our laws and technology protect us. Every year, Patrick Hudson of OffstageJobs.com reminds us how many fires (that we hear of) happen in the entertainment industry; in 2012, there were at least 14. His posts do a good job of reminding us what the proper procedures are. And in case you think they can’t happen to you, he reminds us that the Iroquois Theatre thought the same (go read those articles now; I’ll wait). Despite its boast of being “fireproof” in a city with one of the strictest fire codes in the world, it caught fire in 1903 and killed 602 people. This was not the result of some grand failure, but rather a whole lot of little things that could have been avoided: exit doors were unmarked or blocked, lighting fixtures were in the path of the fire curtain, the scenery was not adequately flame-proofed, etc. Most of these were violations of existing fire code, rather than the lack of knowledge of how to prevent fires.
So while props people are typically not in charge of maintaining many of these things, as a member of the production team, we can still monitor them. If management or producers are pushing for unsafe practices (like covering the exit signs, or disabling the fire curtain), we can stand with the rest of the technicians so they do not need to fight the battle alone. We can keep our props out of stairwells and maintain clear egress paths through our storage areas. If we have prop fire extinguishers, keep them labelled well and far away from real fire extinguishers. Leave flammables in the flammables cabinet. If you are not aware of all the regulations and procedures to follow, Fire Prevention Week is a good time to brush up.
And if you work in your rental home or apartment (and even if you don’t), get renter’s insurance. My wife and I lived through a fire that destroyed our whole apartment building. It’s traumatizing enough without having to worry about all your stuff and where you’re going to live. You may not think you have enough stuff to make it worthwhile, but the value of all your little odds and ends adds up quick. Renter’s insurance is much more than just replacing your stuff; ours also sent movers to salvage and clean what they could while housing us in a temporary apartment. I only had to miss one day of work, which was important because I was freelancing at the time, and paid hourly. Anyone in the building without insurance had to scramble to find a place to sleep that same day, as well as take time off work to haul all their belongings out before they were damaged further or looted.
So take this week to double-check that you are doing all you can to prevent fires and are prepared to deal with one should it occur, both at work and at home. You’ll be glad you did.
I have a new article up in this month’s issue of Stage Directions. I break down how we pulled off a fake knife-throwing trick for Triad Stage’s production of Wait Until Dark. Old pros know this trick, but it is always helpful to see a working model in action.
Fake ‘n Bake is back! Anna brings us a guest post by Ariel Lauryn on how to make a roast beef sandwich. There’s lots of pieces and parts that come together into a great prop which she built at one of my favorite puppet companies, The Puppet Kitchen.
Stagebitz has a great interview up with Gary of Twin FX. This UK-based effects and animatronics company has built everything from fire-breathing dragons to fifteen-foot-tall moving gorillas. What’s even more amazing is they build all of this for the stage, where it has to perform smoothly night after night, for years on end.
First Stage, a dynamite children’s theatre company in Milwaukee, is doing Shrek: The Musical. They show off how they make the ogre face, starting from taking a life-cast of the actor’s head, to sculpting and casting the prosthetic pieces he will wear.
Making and finding props for theatre, film, and hobbies
